How to record what i hear on my Mac

How can I record what i hear on my Mac ?
Also two tracks for stereo guitar so I can play guitar over for example a youtube vid when it’s playing & record both the vid sound & my guitar at the same time ?

See this page in the Manual: http://manual.audacityteam.org/man/tutorial_recording_computer_playback_on_mac.html

WC

Soundflower is getting old. It still works on the latest OSX versions, at least for some.

If you’re willing to sink some money into it, Rogue Amoeba’s Audio Hijack 3 might be a better choice, unless you enjoy testing and debugging. See:

http://rogueamoeba.com/audiohijack/

It’s 49$.

IF you count on investing in an external audio interface in the future, some higher-end audio interfaces can do this in hardware routing, from an app that goes with the interface. In that case, I’d put the 49$ in the piggy bank for the hardware :laughing:

Completely the wrong approach. You will need the RogueAmoeba Line-In free application to play the guitar through the Mac. This will be delayed (software) playthrough. This will give you an insoluble timing problem because the guitar and video sound will be on one track.

If you have copyright holders’ permission, download the YouTube video (use your favourite search engine to find out how). You need that permission to record the video sound in any case.

Install FFmpeg then drag the video into Audacity. Now you can record guitar into a separate track.

Set Transport > Overdub on in Audacity, Transport > Software Playthrough off. Record. Now you can lift one side of your headphones off so you can hear your guitar acoustically without delay while hearing the audio playback of the video in your headphones.

Of course you are better doing this with hardware that has real-time monitoring of the guitar.


Gale

My question is not about hardware. I already have the hardware.
I don’t think I need RogueAmoeba Line-In free application to play the guitar through the Mac.

Guitar signal path is
Guitar to Kemper profiler amp then to Saffire pro 14 external sound card then into Mac thunderbolt socket. And this works for guitar.
Albeit the guitar is on tracks 5&6 due to SPDIF going to last tracks in rack due to no input mapping with audacity, as discussed in length on another thread.

But I want to blend what’s playing on my Mac, be it a backing track or youtube or whatever I’m listening to on my Mac, with guitar to record both.

With an old Creative labs sound card I used with my PC I could set the Creative Lab mixer or DAW so I could record whatever I heard through my PC speakers simultaneously with my guitar playing over it. That’s what I’m trying to achieve now on Mac

Or if I can record what’s playing. Then record my guitar playing over it while it’s playing back, then that would be fine also.

I’ll try those transport settings, thanks

Saffire pro 14

That’s the key. Doesn’t it come with a routing/mixing app?

Included with the PRO 14 is Saffire MixControl, an 18 x 6 DSP mixer. MixControl makes it possible for you to create up to six separate mixes – without latency. Route any combination of input signals and sequencer outputs to any of Saffire PRO 14’s outputs

SPDIF is stuck on CH 5&6 & not mappable to any other input

You only need to route the output from your computer (probably hardware out 1 & 2, going to your monitors) to input 1 & 2 to “record” along with the guitar.

I’m pretty certain that can be done in MixControl, but it’s been a few years since I saw a Saffire Pro 14.

But you refuse to use it because you don’t like deleting tracks in Audacity. :wink:

I thought therefore you were trying a different type of project in software, but it has pitfalls done like that as described.

You do if you are going software-only as I thought. Macs have not had working hardware playthrough for years.

That is certainly doable, and in many ways more flexible and safer, whether you use an interface or not.

Given computer playback is not an input on Mac as it is on Windows, I am not sure how you would capture a mix of computer sound and guitar in an interface without cabling the output into the interface.


Gale

Ref RogueAmoeba Line
Oh I see why that’s mentioned. I forgot I’m not listening to the live guitar sound out of the Mac. My monitor speakers run off the Saphire Pro 14 sound card.
I’ll download RogueAmoeba Line & have a play around with it
Thanks